Here's something the luckiest people in the world know: When Eva Herzigova rolls out of bed, she looks incredible. We discover this on a Wednesday morning in May, when the super-model swings open the door to her New York City hotel suite. She's wearing a delicate white shirt, jeans and white sneakers--a low-key but expensive outfit. Freckles dot her nose.
"I just woke up," she says. "Come in."
Eva is recovering from a late night. Though the gossip columns will report the next day that she was spotted partying with fellow knockout Carmen Kass at a restaurant called Butter, we can assure you she was working that night. She was posing for the photos you see here.
The shoot. Eva says. is something she'd always planned to do: "For me. Playboy is on the career list. I've been asked to pose a million times." So why now? "This was the first time I got everything I wanted, including the photographer. I picked Mario Sorrenti because of his work. It's artsy, mysterious, feminine and sexy. Playboy is a great concept. It shows the beauty of the body in an elegant way."
Eva has been showing the beauty of the body since she began modeling at the age of 16. Her big break arrived in 1994. when she starred in a Wonderbra ad campaign. With Eva on traffic-stopping billboards around the globe, the push-up bras became a phenomenon and she became a household name. "Their sales went up 40 percent," she says. To date. Eva has modeled for Guess. Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Victoria's Secret. She recently launched a line of swimwear called Eva Herzigova. "Original, huh?" she says. "But it would be sad to call the line anything else. I've worked so hard to build a brand. You don't just throw that away."
The brand building has segued into acting, and like Michelle Pfeiffer and Cameron Diaz, Eva is making a successful transition. She even won a best actress award at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival for her role in Just for the Time Being. Next up? Modigliani, in which she plays Picasso's first wife. and Go-Go Tales, starring Harvey Keitel. Eva sees acting as a natural next step. "When I'm being photographed I create a character. With acting I just find a voice." But even when the pictures are still and the voice is silent, she leaves us speechless.
See more of Eva's pictorial at cyber. playboy.com
